Real Founder Lessons

The best startup advice from experienced founders...one real-world lesson at a time.

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Product-market fit isn’t rational

(at minute 15:43)

Founder Lesson
There isn't a topic that interests me more than product-market fit. In the 2007 - 2010 timeframe I went from a lifestyle business (where I could fool myself that it was high-growth) to a high-growth startup (where you didn't have to wonder if it had product-market fit) and that transition completely changed the way . . .

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Share your idea with lots of people

(at minute 15:43)

Founder Lesson
A few weeks ago a first-time founder emailed me to meet-up. One of my favorite things is meeting new founders, so I'm always excited to get emails like that. However my enthusiasm quickly declined when I read this at the end of his email...

"Please see the attached mutual NDA and let me know if you have . . .

Posted in: all business model validation counterintuitive things customer discovery execution first principles focus focus groups founders how i built this hustle mvp pattern matching podcast process product market fit solving a problem unique playbook

The value of accelerators

(at minute 36:07)

Founder Lesson
There's a bunch of startup stuff happening in downtown Atlanta this week, so I've been thinking a lot lately about programs that support startups.

The startup programs that have emerged over the past five years fascinate me. I'm old enough to remember the first startup hubs that emerged across the . . .

Posted in: accelerators all bootstrapping business model validation financing focus founders podcast process raising capital ycombinator

The job of the founder/CEO is to say "no"

(at minute 4:19)

Founder Lesson
I'm a huge fan of hack tests. For example, let's say you believe that gardeners will buy more gardening equipment if you create a content-focused startup where the content's goal is to drive e-commerce. Instead of spending months building a site/app, setup a MailChimp account today and start sending emails . . .

Posted in: all business model validation counterintuitive things execution focus founders micromanagement persistency podcast process product market fit unique playbook ycombinator

Do the simple thing first

(at minute 13:46)

Founder Lesson
Two years ago I was working with my co-founder to help renovate an old building in downtown Atlanta to become a startup hub. We didn't know anything about construction, so there were lots of lessons. Perhaps the biggest lesson was that construction is a process with lots of fits & starts. You decide one day to put a . . .

Posted in: all bootstrapping counterintuitive things execution focus founders hustle micromanagement mvp podcast process product product market fit solving a problem stanford university unique playbook video

You aren't the exception

(at minute 19:31)

Founder Lesson
About a year ago I was talking with a founder going through Techstars and he told me something that really stuck with me...

"Our behavior towards our startup totally changed when it occurred to us that we are the rule...not the exception."

In other words, this delusional founder (he's . . .

Posted in: all counterintuitive things delusion execution founders how i built this persistency podcast process psychological friction resiliency unique playbook

Think differently about procrastination

(at minute 2:56)

Founder Lesson
Startups are creative exercises. This is true because the path to creating a tool/brand/mission to solve a problem isn't known. If it were known/correct/big, it would already exist.

If you've ever done much long-form writing, it's like that. The basics of your story are in your head (eg a new college . . .

Posted in: a16z all counterintuitive things creativity focus founders podcast process psychological friction resiliency solving a problem unique playbook

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